Reviews by bigfnjoe:

More User Reviews:

A: Pours an opaque jet black in color with minimal amounts of visible carbonation and some light amounts of cola brown highlights. The beer has a half finger tall off-white head that reduces rather quickly to a medium patch of very thin film and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light to moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of dark and roasted malts along with sour cherries.

T: Upfront there are light to moderate flavors of dark malts and roasted malts. Moderate flavors of sour cherries which get a little stronger as the beer warms up. Light hints of alcohol.

O: I really enjoyed the flavors of sour cherries in the imperial stout style - I found it to be interesting and a touch unique but enjoyable. Alcohol is well hidden and this one is easy to enjoy sipping on for a while.

The beer pours a pitch black color with a thick frothy tan head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is great! It has a dry, earthy black malt scent along with a noticeable smokiness to it. I'm not detecting the cherries in the aroma at all. The taste is great as well. It has a smooth, black, chocolate, and peated malt flavor that goes down so easy and finishes slightly warm with a light cherry taste. The cherries are just another addition in the makeup of this beer. This is one malty brew. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a wonderful beer. It's a RIS with sour cherries added. It's well brewed and not overly fruity; Good Work!

Poured from the tap into a goblet an opaque black with a thin almond colored head,like the aromas, the sour cherries really show thru up front with the bitter unsweetened chocolate "coating" the sour cherry notes with a deep roasted character as well.The flavors are not as bold and the cherries dont come thru as much on the palate its decent though with dark roast coffee and bitter chocolate dominant flavors, the sour cherry flavors take a back seat at times barely noticable underneath the impy stout flavor profile.A decent stab at this beer I just wish the sour cherries were more prevelant on the palate.

From a growler, purchased at Shoreline Bev in Huntington, NY. Pours dark mahogony brown with light shining thru the edges. Dark tan, long lasting head, that leaves plenty of ringed, nicely knit and scatered lacing. Nose of smoke, dark toast and caramel. I picked up notes of more smoke, dark roasty/toasty grains and just perhaps the slightest hint of ripe cherries. Delicious, smooth on the tongue, complex and highly worthy full throtle stout. Go get some to support this solid brewery that continues to put out a fine line of brews.

This is a very nice looking beer. Overall it didn't work for me. I was hoping the sour cherry would help balance the sweetness of the malts used for the stout; however, the cherry added more sweetness and reminded me of sweet stout with cough medicene. I think it needed more bittering hops and maybe a different type of cherry if fresh cherries were used.

M: Thick and creamy, yet crisp with the high ABV. Tight carbonation and very smooth.

D: I found this beer to be delicious and easy to drink for the gravity and ABV. More so on tap at the brewery based on how friendly the staff and environment were. Great and warming on a cold winter day.

The sour cherries come through in the aroma but this beer is not especially sour. Rather, it has a nice sweet/tart balance. The "sour" refers to the cherries, not the beer, as some other reviewers failed to recognize. The cherry component is a bit more subtle than I'd prefer, being barely detectable in the mouth, and even then emerging as a somewhat generic fruitiness. Hints of chocolate in both the aroma and flavor.

Though black as night and opaque, the look doesn't imply heaviness in the body, per se. The off-white head is barely less than one finger tall with good retention and strong patchy lacing that sticks well.
Overall, this beer shares the same character in aroma and flavor. It's heavily roasted with the cherry notes focusing as sour rather than sweet, though it brings a little of that. Lots of char lingers in the heavy dark malts. I would call the cherry underused rather than subtle, which is an important distinction, though it is there. There's a bit of cocoa powder and caramel in the malts presence, and a dry sort of bitterness throughout. Alcohol isn't too hot but definitely shows itself. I get fruity esters and the like in a lot of beers, but in this one they get a little too strong, distracting and offensive in an otherwise good stout.
Carbonation is light, at a good low level for the style, and with an adequate light crispness. This stout is light in body, though, on the bigger side of medium without the depth to hold it up. It's also shy of clean, scraping the tongue just a little as it goes. It's relatively smooth, though, and it moves fairly well.

A decent enough beer, but I'm not sure it really lives up to its name... I was kind of expecting more. It looks great in the glass with an almost imperviable black/brown body and a nice creamy, tan head. The retention is good considering the strength; and it leaves some minor lacing behind. The nose delivers a very nice "stout" character with a healthy dose of roastiness; and a gentle whiff of cherry does give it some extra character. In the mouth it's medium, perhaps medium-full; and it's nicely smooth across the palate. The flavor delivers the suggested roastiness over a lightly chocolate/caramel accented base, and there is a bit of cherry there (although if I didn't know it was there I might not have recognized it at all). The one thing that brings it down, however, is the high-temp fermentation character. The alcohol is noticeable, and there are some esters there that are fairly unpleasant. Beyond that it's a pretty decent brew. Perhaps I just got a bad batch, I'll keep my eye out to try another sample.

Three finger tan head from a solid pour. Jet black brew. Decent retention and fluffy lacing that slides down the glass.

Roasted chocolate malt aroma, just a hint of cherry or grape tartness. Wheat, and milk or cream.

There's a definite tartness and it is far more sour than I expected. Coffee does not hit until the midtongue, and the cocoa is on the back end only. Not the flavor profile that I expected, and not one that is great.

Slightly chewy, but a little bit light for the style. Overall medium mouthfeel. No hint of alcohol. No sting, and no bite.

I'm very disappointed. This is simply a mediocre beer. It's not bad, but I feel the tartness does not work. Further, it's not a good stout by itself. Not terrible, but I recommend you skip this one.